Sandcastles and colors
by xxXXHappyLlamaXXxx
Summary: Since Ironhide is now the Lennox's guardian, why not spend some time bonding with the femme sparkling? One-shot


"Ironhide, Are you sure you want to do this? You know what I mean, not that you're not capable of doing it, but really. Are you sure you want to take Annabelle to the beach? We can take her later on after supper." Will Lennox had said to the autobots weapon specialist who was holding a small blonde haired four-year old by the name of Annabelle Lennox in his hand.

Ironhide sighed in irritation once again as Will went on and on. He really didn't mind bringing the sparkling to the beach, he found himself actually looking forward to it. The reason he was looking forward to it was because Ratchet had finally fixed up his holoform projector and he could now actually interact with Annabelle without having to be carful not to crush her under his foot.

"Will." He said sharply, getting the soldiers attention. "I've made up my mind and I am completely sure that want to take her to the beach. I have been wanting to spend some time with the young femme ever since Ratchet had fixed my holoform. I promise you that she will be safe with me and I will not let her out of my sight. If she does get hurt, then you can weld my aft to the ceiling of Ratchets Med-Bay."

Will sighed and put his hand through his short, dark hair. He knew he wouldn't be able to get Ironhide to change his mind, but it didn't hurt to try. "Fine, you can take Annabelle to the beach. Though, don't let her into the water 'cause she can't swim. Make sure she doesn't pick up any crabs in the sand. She tends to do that, it usually doesn't turn out too good. Well, you get the point." Ironhide nodded towards him "Acknowledged." He bent down and placed his hand on the ground while Will had to lift Annabelle off it since it was too far off the ground. Ironhide then transformed into his alt-form. Will was about to place Annabelle in the back seat when Sarah came running out with a bulky thing in her arms and placed it on the ground near the Top-kick.

"Excuse me, Sarah. But may I ask what is that you just laid down?" Sarah looked at him and smiled. "It's a car seat for Annabelle to sit in on the way to the beach. It's against the law to seat a small child in a car without one while driving." Ironhide looked at the hunk of plastic in horror. "You mean you're going to place that _thing _in me?" Sarah rolled her eyes. "Come on, Ironhide! It's not going to kill you, it's for Annabelle's safety!" "I know it's for the safety of the femme, but I will NOT be seen with that in me." When Ironhide had finished speaking Sarah had a deadly look on her face. Things started getting serious. "Listen Ironhide, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. So let me strap this in you or else," "Or else what?" Ironhide tested. This femme couldn't do anything that would scare him easily. Sarah smirked evilly, "I'll get Ratchet to give you a check up every week for two months."

Ironhide shuddered at the thought of getting a full scan my Ratchet every week. He can't stand getting a monthly check up, let alone having to get one every week. He grunted, frustrated. "Fine, but you owe me a wash when I come back. If the autobots see me with that piece of plastic in my cab they will never let me forget it."

"Okay, you got yourself a deal." Sarah hopped up with the car seat and Ironhide opened his door for her. She placed it on the seat then climbed in and attached it to the top of the seat. When she was finished adjusting the booster seat she climbed out to get Annabelle and placed her in the hold. "You ready to go Ironhide?" Will jumped up in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a gruff chuckle behind him. "Yes Will, I am quite ready to test out my holoform again, and of course, to spend time with Annabelle." He added at the end. Just before he got into his cab he heard from behind from Will.

"You know what? Me and Sarah will come by after an hour or so. Then we can spend some time all together. Are you fine with that?" Ironhide nodded, climbing up and in the cab. "Yes, I am perfectly fine with that." He said then drove off.

The first couple of minutes were complete silence until Annabelle decided to make a conversation, "'Hide?" She timidly asked from the back. "Yes Annie?" He had answered back using her nickname. "What's your favorite color?" Ironhide peeked back at Annabelle, looking incredulous. "Why do you ask, young one?" Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I'm bored and I'm trying to make a conversation with you."

"Okay," Ironhide was hesitant before answering her question. "Really, I don't know. I like all the colors." He saw Annabelle tilt her head, confused at his answer. "Why do you like all of them? There are really dirty colors like brown and booger green. I don't like those colors." She grimaced when she thought about it.

"I like all the colors because on my home planet the only colors that we ever saw were metallic, white and black. It's…..a nice change to see all these colors and it helps me take my mind off home and bad memories." Ironhide sighed and in the back Annabelle looked saddened.

"You miss your home, don't you?" He sighed and nodded his holographic head. "Very much so, but I know if I ever go back there will be nothing there for me or any of my friends. We have much more to look forward to on earth than Cybertron. Oh look, we have arrived to our destination." He added quickly to drop the depressing subject. Annabelle's face lit up into a wide grin while Ironhide went around the truck to let her out of her booster seat. When he saw the straps that kept her in he was momentarily confused on how to get her out but easily found the button to release the straps.

He gently lifted her out and placed her on the sand beneath them. Then, he remembered the bag Will had also given Annabelle to bring along. "Annie where is that bag your father gave to you?" She ran past and climbed back inside him and retrieved her bag, "Right here!" Then, she ran past him onto the softer sand of the cove so he ran along behind her. When she came close to the water, she stopped and plopped down on the soft white sand. There, she picked up handfuls and watched as it caressed her hand while falling off the edges of her palms. From behind, Ironhide watched, amused at the sparkling's actions then went and sat down beside her. "What are you doing?" He asked, eyeing the sand in her hand. "I'm just feeling the sand. It feels cool, do you wanna try?"

Ironhide couldn't say no to her when she was staring at her with the biggest innocent blue eyes he had ever seen. So, he grabbed a handful of sand and let it gently fall through his fingers. Annabelle was right, it was a wonderful feeling, and it was so relaxing. "I see what you mean." He rumbled then took a quick glance back over at Annabelle to see her taking something out of her bag. It appeared to be a bucket. Though, what really confused him was when she started filling it up with sand.

"What is the bucket for?" Annabelle giggled as she plopped the bucket upside down then lifting it up to reveal a pack of molded sand. "I'm building a sandcastle, silly. Do you want to help?" He wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but he wanted to spend time with the femme so he went along with it. "Yes, I like to help you." Annabelle looked into her backpack and pulled out another bucket not as big as the one she had and handed it to him. "Here, you start building a fence around what I'm making. Then, the castle can be guarded!" Ironhide nodded and got to work. After many tries he had gotten up the whole fence. He looked up to see Annabelle sitting on the sand a meter away smirking at him. "You've never built a sand castle before have you?" Ironhide shook his head and grunted. "Well, that's alright! Now you know what to do for next time!" Ironhide nodded and got up on his feet, brushing off any bits of sand stuck onto his holoform. He then placed his eyes on the castle. "Are we finished?" Annabelle looked at him in horror and shook her head vigorously. "No, we still have to make it look pretty! Let's go look for shells!"

She handed him his bucket and took her own then walked along the edge of the water. "Are there any sea shells you are looking for in particular?" "No, just ones that look pretty and stand out." They walked along and collected as many shells, more than they actually needed and walked back to site of their sand castle. "First," Annabelle announced "we have to clean the outside of the shells to make them shine." So, they took them down to the water and one by one washed them. During this time, Ironhide was thinking greatly. He had always thought that no matter what, he would not become extremely close with the humans. He had thought this because humans had such short life spans. This is what he had hated about the human race because in a blink of an optic, every human he had come close to and befriended would be gone.

Though because of Annabelle, he had changed his mind. She was like no other human he had ever seen. Because of her, he had changed his feelings towards the humans.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he felt coldness down his back. In front of him Annabelle held a bucket dripping with water which she had thrown at him deliberately, "Annabelle! Why did you throw a bucket of water at me?" He snapped harshly. Annabelle's shoulders drooped and she started to sniff quietly. "I did it because you staring at the water and wouldn't answer me, I thought something was wrong. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you upset, I just didn't know what to do!" The little girl started crying and Ironhide sighed while taking her into his arms.

"Shhhh….you did not upset me, I am not made at you. I was just taken by surprise." She looked up at him and sniffled. "You're not?" "Of course not," He said gently while letting go of her. Then, he had an evil idea. "I you had not done that to me, then I would not have came up with my plan," "what plan!" She said curiously while jumping up and down. He smirked and grabbed his bucket and quickly filled it with water. Annabelle realized what he was doing and backed away. "No, no, no!" She squealed and ran away while he chased her with the bucket. Ironhide quickly caught up with her and dumped it all over her. She screamed when the cold water made contact with her warm skin, "cold, cold, cold!" Suddenly, she stopped and turned around with a dark, but happy glare in her face. "Oh, it's on."

And so it began.

* * *

Will and Sarah Lennox were home while Ironhide had taken Annabelle out to the beach. They were getting ready to go to the beach since it had been close to an hour. Also, Sarah was becoming worried over the girl and her protector. Why hadn't he called and said Annabelle was alright? Could decepticons have found them and Ironhide was out numbered? Her anxiety climbed higher and Will had begun to notice.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She shook her head and sighed. "It's nothing; it's just that I'm a little worried. What if something happened to them and Ironhide didn't call?" "Look Sarah, you know Ironhide calls if there's ever something wrong with Annabelle or himself. You have no reason to worry." He said as they pulled up onto the beach and spotted to figures lying close to each other.

"That must be them, hey guys!" He yelled as he hopped out of Sarah's car. They didn't move at all and he started to become worried. He ran up closer with Sarah trailing behind him. When they came up close, they stopped. They couldn't believe what they saw, Ironhide and Annabelle sleeping together with seaweed in their hair. That part wasn't so bad but the thing that shocked him the most was that Ironhide was holding Annabelle in his arms on his chest.

Will heard a click behind him and turned around to see Sarah with a camera in her hand. "Kodak moment," she whispered as she came up beside him.

"Well, so much for spending time together. But, there is one thing I've learned." Will announced and Sarah looked over at him and then switched her gaze back on the two forms on the sand. "What was that?"

"Ironhide isn't a complete hard-aft after all."

* * *

A/N: Hey, this is the first Transformers fanfic I've ever attempted to write and I think it turned out pretty good. Please Review!

- Taylor


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